Texas A&M's outspoken, folksy chancellor (he might prefer “boss”) is simply the Johnny Manziel of university chancellors. Friend and foe alike can't stop him; apparently, they can only hope to contain him. And, in the past few days, there's been little containment of the livid leader.

Sharp, a former state comptroller who's served as A&M system head since 2011, has come out strong of late in his support of Manziel, the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback who's under NCAA investigation as to whether he autographed memorabilia for pay this past offseason.

Colleges

While the rest of A&M's brass, including coach Kevin Sumlin, has buttoned its collective lip on the subject, Sharp has addressed it on multiple occasions, and his latest barrage is aimed at ESPN, which broke the original story. So is Sharp actually rather dull attacking the industry that buys the proverbial ink by the barrel, and also might he have a few secrets concerning the investigation still tucked away?

On Wednesday, Sharp wrote in an email newsletter to the vague “community and business leaders” that “... we've had ongoing and productive dialogue with the NCAA during their investigation, as required. However, some members of the media have chosen to declare 'No. 2' guilty with no evidence whatsoever.”

Later in the correspondence, Sharp wrote of ESPN: “It's surprising that the nation's largest sports channel would support publication with (a) lack of corroboration.”

Based on Sharp's strong words over the past few days, it stands to reason fans should expect to see the aforementioned No. 2 (Manziel) take the field Aug. 31 — only a little more than a week away — when the Aggies host Rice starting at high noon in the season opener.

Or ... A&M is simply trying to force the NCAA and/or ESPN to play their entire hands before the season actually starts to see what all is out there regarding the allegations. But Sharp, who received his degree from A&M in 1972, certainly sounds as if he's simply defending one of his own — an Aggie — in his uprising against the reports.

“When we see something that is, in our mind, egregious, we shouldn't just sit back and say we're going to take that slap in the face at Texas A&M, or we're going to allow one of ours to take that slap in the face,” Sharp told KBTX-TV on Thursday. “We're going to speak out, and in my opinion, that's what I did.”

Asked if he had inquired of Manziel himself whether he was innocent, Sharp told the station, “I don't have to hear from him. I can hear from his original accusers and what they're saying now. ... I don't have any doubt Johnny Manziel is innocent of the stuff that they were throwing at him.”